During one of our RV park happy hour gatherings, I happened to overhear part of a conversation about a Christmas breakfast. I really wasn’t paying attention until my friend Neil turned to me and said “Jim, could you make french toast?”  Not knowing what he was talking about, I responded with “What is it for?”  Neil told me that he and his wife were planning a breakfast on Christmas morning for the surrounding neighbors and that I was invited.  Neil was handing out the food assignments and felt they would need a second batch of french toast.

I didn’t have any plans for Christmas morning and can handle basic cooking tasks.  Without giving it much thought I said  “Sure, I can make french toast”.  I had never made french toast but I remember my Mom making it when I was a kid.  It was never really my favorite and I hadn’t eaten any in over 40 years.  But, it seemed to be easy to make – bread, eggs, and milk.  Soak the bread and fry it up till it’s golden brown.  Easy peasy and inexpensive right?.

Yes, easy peasy if I was at home making it for me and my wife on a Saturday morning.  But I needed to make it up ahead of time for a crowd of 20-40 people.  And, all I had to work with was a small stove in my small RV and a small 9 inch frying pan.

And so began a journey that would consume my thoughts (and money) for the next four days – My Christmas French Toast Extravaganza.

Finding The Right Recipe

My first challenge was to find a decent recipe.  Here’s where the internet is such a great resource.  I easily found dozens of recipes.  All the recipes seem to be variants involving the three main ingredients – bread, eggs, and milk with some flavorings (cinnamon, sugar, vanilla extract) added in.

I settled on a basic one that had a 5 star review – 2 eggs, 2/3 cup of milk,1 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, pinch of salt, and a pinch of cinnamon.  I decided to tweak it by using real maple syrup for a sweetener instead of sugar and I substituted Grand Marnier for the vanilla extract.  The real maple syrup and Grand Marnier were pricey but hey, it was Christmas and I was cooking for my friends.

While researching recipes, I found that one major issue is the type of bread to use.  Back in the 1960’s, my Mom used basic grocery store white bread for her french toast.  But that is a no-no in current recipes.  Most recipes call for coarse firm bread (not spongy white bread) and stale bread is best so it can soak up the batter.  I chose some locally baked artisan French Boule bread.  My recipe was a little fancy schmancy but hey, it was Christmas and I was cooking for my friends.

Acquiring The Right Tools

The next challenge was getting the right cooking tool.  Every guy knows you gotta have the right tool for a job and I needed a large electric griddle.  I don’t carry one in the RV and most folks don’t either because of the size.  So, I took a trip to Target and found a nice one with a non stick ceramic cooking surface for $34.  I probably could have gotten by with the $19 Black and Decker teflon model, but hey, it was Christmas and I was cooking for my friends.

So, I bought all the ingredients and scheduled a test run a couple of days before Christmas.  I  wanted to make sure everything worked and to see how the recipe tasted.  My wife was the tester and she gave it high marks.  I thought it was pretty good but felt it could be slightly better and richer tasting if I added one more egg to the recipe.

I was good to go for Christmas morning but needed a couple more items – a couple of aluminum baking pans with covers to hold the french toast and keep it warm.  So one more trip to the grocery store for pans and more syrup for the crowd.  I knew the costs for this french toast were piling up, but hey, it was Christmas and I was cooking for my friends.

Christmas Morning

The big day arrived.  I kept trying to think about the birth of Christ and to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas.  But my brain kept going back to the mechanics of making french toast.  For four days, I had been consumed with the details for frying up egg battered bread.  Neil’s wife said breakfast would be between 9:15 am – 9:30 am.  All I focused on was my time runway for cooking up a couple of loaves of french toast.

The night before the ladies had set up tables in a couple of the open camp sites for the food and seating.  Having been a spectator at a few of these RV park food events, I amazed at how the ladies just instinctively know what needs to be done and they make it seem effortless.  By 8:00 am I noticed the guys had started gathering to cook bacon and do quality control for the Mimosa’s and Bloody Mary’s.

I started cooking at 8:20 am and got all the french toast done by 9:15 am.  Everything came out perfect.  I had two full pans of fancy schmancy french toast.

Most of the folks had gathered by 9:15 am, had drinks in hand, and were anxiously awaiting the food.  Then almost on cue, a large parade of dishes started coming out of the RV’s. There were pans full of sliced ham, crock pots full of scrambled eggs, trays full of biscuits and bacon, bowls of fruit, pans of cheesy potatoes, several deserts, more bottles of wine and champagne, and my two pans of french toast.  It was a feast to behold.

A line quickly formed and the feast began.  The 20-40 people we expected turned out to be more like 75.  I was a little worried about how to keep the food warm.  I asked my neighbor how she would keep her dish warm. She said “Jim, don’t worry about it. With so many people, the food will be gone within a few minutes.”  It took more than a few minutes but she was right. Not much was left after all had eaten.

Epilogue

So, I learned how to make French Toast!  It’s actually quite good and I plan to make it more often now that I have a good recipe and an electric  griddle.  I got a couple of comments from people and they also liked the batch I made.

But the real lesson of this journey was sharing a Christmas morning with a group of friends.  Most of the snowbirds in the RV park were away from their families on Christmas.  The breakfast was a great way to pull folks together on Christmas morning.  In addition to the food, there were lots of hugs, warm greetings, conversation, and fellowship.  It was a great way to spend Christmas morning sharing and devoting our attention to each other.

For those interested, the final tally of my french toast extravaganza was;

• 1 Electric griddle                             $34
• 1 doz organic eggs                          $4
• Two loaves of French Boule bread  $8
• 2 pints of milk                                  $4
• 2 baking pans with covers               $4
• 1 small bottle real maple syrup       $8
• 1 bottle of Log Cabin syrup             $3
• 2 nips of Grand Marnier                  $8

The total cost was: $73.  That was some pricey for French Toast but hey….. it was Christmas, I was cooking for my friends, and it was worth every penny..